Environment & Society - Key Issues

1. Environment & Society - Key Issues • Module Learning Outcomes – Reminder • Exam Logistics & Advice • Question & Answer Session • Link to to your future studies & opportunities • Environmentalism today – debates & route forward?

2. Module Learning Outcomes • Knowledge of theories & policy debates on human-environment interactions • Awareness of need for (& problems with) interdisciplinary study of env. problems • Application of key theories & concepts to social, cultural & environmental case studies • Ability to synthesise views in a written form

3. Interdisciplinarity &/or Sustainability Science Governance & Institutions ? Equity – gender, poverty, future generations ?

4. www.env.leeds.ac.uk/sustainableuplands UK Sustainable Development Policy – Guiding Principles

5. www.env.leeds.ac.uk/sustainableuplands UK Sustainable Development Policy – Shared Priorities • Sustainable Consumption & Production – “more with less” • Climate Change & Energy – “set a good example” • Natural Resource Protection & Environmental Enhancement – “need a better understanding and a more integrated policy framework” • Sustainable Communities – “give communities more power and say in the decisions that affect them” • See - http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/index.htm

6. www.env.leeds.ac.uk/sustainableuplands UK SD Policy – Natural Resource Protection & Env Enhancement

7. Key Module Issues • Human - Environmental Resource relations • Social, cultural & religious env perspectives • Environmentalism & environmental thought • Scientific controversies & misuse of science • Global, National & local policy frameworks • Sustainable development debates - African, Asian, Arctic and UK case studies

8. Exam Issues • Timetabled for Weds Jan 17th – 9.30 a.m. – 11.30 a.m. • Location will be posted on web page from Dec 21st! • http://www.leeds.ac.uk/students/office/exams/ears.htm • Exam structure – • Section A (50 %) – Answer 2 from 6 essay Q’s – depth of knowledge tested, see past papers for example Q’s • Section B (25 %) – Answer 25 MCQ’s – breadth of knowledge tested

9. Essay Feedback / Advice! • A good range of marks from 35 (failing) to 75 (First class) - Mean, = 58.4 (s.d. = 6.5); includes 6 Firsts! • Introduction needs to include statement of essay aim that links to the specific Q set • Structure needed to match the focus of the Q - too many were all I know about …. Or all I can paste about … • Your analysis of secondary material (usually at end of a paragraph) is ESSENTIAL to show understanding & flow of argument in essay IN YOUR OWN WORDS!! • Need to use academic journal sources NOT just web / wikepedia etc. • Must accept complexity of issue & avoid simplistic views • Referencing was poor in text & (in most cases) would need to improve to avoid loss of marks on future coursework

10. The Exam Context – Essay Questions • Great danger if you fail to address the specific essay Q’s raised ! (In past; c. 5 people fail due to this!!) • Better to provide a short relevant answer (say 3 para’s - intro with an aim, main discussion, conclusion) than a long waffling irrelevant answer • Add your thoughts / analysis throughout • Marks of 60+ dependent on evidence of reading beyond the lecture material • Where possible, draw links between different lectures – essay Q’s designed not to depend on just one lecture!!

11. The Exam / Module Context – Key themes • Sustainable Development agenda – impacts on scientific method (e.g. SLA) & global policy discussions • Different societal views of the environment & implications – e.g. different cultural and religious traditions, growth of environmentalism in public & their actions. • International scale of environmental problems – UN Conventions, Regional Bodies – e.g. PoP Treaty in Arctic • Links from societal (history & tradition) to policy on national scale (e.g. China) • UK Sustainable Development research & policy agenda’s • Shift to greater community-based natural resource management to meet sustainability targets

12. The Exam Context – Multiple Choice Questions • 25 % on 25 Multiple Choice Questions • Questions designed to test breadth of course knowledge and thus some elements of all lectures will be tested • All written such that only one possible correct answer • No negative marking so worth a guess if you don’t know • Complete electronic form with an HB pencil fully covering correct box

13. The Exam Context – Example MCQ • Rachel Carson’s (1962) text Silent Spring highlighted the possibility of which human-induced impacts on the environment? • A. Ecological changes due to global warming • B. Ecological changes due to marine oil pollution • C. Ecological changes due to pesticide use in agriculture • D. Impacts of ozone depletion in the atmosphere • E. Land degradation due to overcultivation • See others on Handout

14. Contemporary Environmentalism - Environmental & Social Stakeholders • Global Citizens - as individuals, voters, scientists making informed ethical decisions • Communities - Group action, political pressure and Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) • Business - Capability, if not corporate responsibility • State - not a ‘guardian angel’ - short-term and bureaucratic • International Community - limited actual regulatory power - rhetoric as opposed to reality • Links critical, especially from community upwards

15. Sustainability Science - Kates et al., 2001 • Few disagree with sustainability as an ideal, but much more uncertainty on practical criteria, i.e. can we measure sustainability ? • Can social structures / capital be improved to guide nature & society interactions toward more sustainable trajectories ? • Can systems for monitoring environmental & social conditions be integrated to aid transition to sustainability ? • How can research and decision support be better integrated into systems for adaptive management & societal learning ?

16. Sustainability Research Strategies • “Sustainability science differs to a considerable degree in structure, methods and content from science as we know it” (Kates et al., 2001, p.641). It must - • Span range of diverse scales (e.g. globalisation & local farming practices) • Account for temporal inertia & urgency of problems • Deal with functional complexities of societal root causes of environmental problems • Recognise the wide range of outlooks on the use of ‘knowledge’ within both science and society • Need to ‘Rethink Science’

17. Institutions and Infrastructure • Need for sustainability science driven from public in both North and South, but needs improved research and institutional structures • Need to bridge digital divide and use internet to build interdisciplinary, inter-regional research, including capacity building in the South

18. What role for Environmentalists? • Have we reached the limits of where green politics can go? • Public awareness achieved, but actions still needed by all to challenge worrying trends • Environmentalism now driven more by local societies (need for identities in globalised world) than by science • Needs to be more closely tied to Social Democracy groups to push agenda’s forward towards social & political change • Need to put ‘People, power & politics before conservation and CO2’

19. Link to Your Further Studies Need to consider both social and environmental aspects of environmental issues should always be considered • Central element to 3 follow-on Level 2 modules - • ENVI2370 - Poverty, Environment and Sustainable Development (10 credits; sem 2) • Applied problem-orientated module (100 % coursework) • ENVI2400 People and Plants (10 credits; sem 1) • 100 % coursework and many interactive field visits • ENVI2131 - Climate Change: Social Issues (10 credits; sem 2) – could well be a merged 20 credit CC offering! • In-depth analysis of mitigation and adaptation strategies to climate change issues (50 % coursework; 50 % short answer exam)

20. Thank you … • Questions ?? • Good luck !??